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A student athlete’s mental health, especially while recovering from an eating disorder, is never 100% predictable. While athletic staff can hope for their student to recover without incident, discussion around the reality of relapse should be prioritized to help prepare for and support an athlete in the event that relapse does occur. While the recovery journey is different for everyone, here are some of the most common warning signs to be aware of when supporting a student athlete.

9 Eating Disorder Relapse Warning Signs

Resistance to a Balanced Eating Routine

Recovering from an eating disorder is a challenging journey for anyone, but it’s especially true for student athletes returning to their sport environment and culture while also navigating the demands of being a student and athlete. There schedules are consistently packed with classes, training, travel, and competition and there is pressure to focus on their physical performance in addition to their performance in the classroom. However, when they fall back into old patterns that neglect their nutrition, it could be a sign that they may be relapsing.

Portion Sizes

Thanks to media representation, when the average person thinks about an eating disorder, they imagine someone eating minimal amounts of food and impossibly small portion sizes. This concept isn’t far from the reality of eating disorder relapse for some student athletes, and it can be one of the easiest to spot, especially if they’re continuously going against the advice of on-staff nutritionists or coaches. When an athlete doesn’t get the minimum amount of nutrition and fuel they need in a day to help them keep up with their everyday output, they can often appear lethargic or have an impaired reaction time.

Reluctance to Some Foods

Diet culture has continuously told the population, including student athletes, that avoiding certain foods is the “best way” to lead a healthy life. Unfortunately, this advice frequently comes from a place of minimal scientific basis and it often leads people to avoiding specific foods or food groups entirely. In an athlete eating disorder treatment program, professionals will determine what the core reason is for reluctance to particular foods so they can slowly reintroduce them into the athlete’s eating habits and their athletic lifestyle.

Skipping Meals

One of the high priorities of anyone working with a student athlete during their eating disorder recovery is a consistent eating schedule and healthy eating patterns. So, when someone in recovery slips back into the habit of skipping meals, it can be a sign that they’ve either relapsed, or they may be on their way to relapsing, whether intentionally or otherwise. If you’re noticing a student athlete regularly missing meals, it may be worth paying closer attention to their eating habits to ensure they’re staying on track with their recovery.

Return to an Unhealthy Body Image

When someone’s view of themselves is warped by an eating disorder, one of the biggest challenges in their recovery is overcoming this negative body image. Since progress is rarely linear with student athlete eating disorder treatment, it’s not uncommon for someone to have the occasional unhealthy thought; when this becomes a pattern is when there’s cause for concern.

Feelings of Guilt After Eating

While this is often a hard-to-see sign of relapse since many students often keep their mental health struggles to themselves. However, on the off chance that someone on their recovery journey says something similar to “I shouldn’t have eaten that” or “I wish I hadn’t eaten that,” then there’s the potential they’re feeling the regret or guilt often associated with falling back into an eating disorder.

Constant Attachment to or Avoidance of Mirrors

Someone working through an eating disorder often does so in the pursuit of looking or feeling a certain way, so a relapse could show itself in how they react to seeing themselves in a mirror. The recovery journey looks different with each student athlete’s mental health, so this could be an unusual attachment to looking at themselves in mirrors or an avoidance of them altogether.

More Frequent Exercising or Weigh-Ins

While some red flags are difficult to see due to their internal nature, this is one of the few that coaches and other athletic staff can pick up on without too much difficulty. A student that leans into exercising or weighing in more often than their trainer recommends could be someone whose eating disorder recovery could be compromised. This may appear as intense dedication to their sport and it may even positively impact their performance at first, but it could do more harm than good in the long run.

Withdrawing from Relationships

Social and societal withdrawal is often one of the more common warning signs that an athlete’s eating disorder treatment has been compromised because–at this point–the student may be withdrawing to hide the return of more apparent symptoms. Whether this is due to a lack of trust in their support system or a desire to avoid having discussions about their change in habits depends upon the person.

Not Attending Social Sports Events

When a student athlete starts opting out of social events outside of practice and training, it could always be for a variety of reasons, like a busy schedule or an increased school workload. However, if athletic staff or other athletes see someone not attending events with no apparent reason, it may be time to check in with that student. With many teams relying on the camaraderie-building done outside the gym and practice, the affected student is likely missing out on essential relationships that could improve their performance and help them in their recovery journey.

Avoidance of Events Involving Food

Avoiding or restricting certain foods is often a part of “diet culture” that has the potential to develop into an eating disorder, so when a student athlete begins to avoid the team events that involve food, they may be doing so to avoid exposure to certain or all foods entirely. They may still hold a negative body image in their mind that leads them to worrying about the consequences of eating certain foods, or they may be acting on the anxiety they feel toward eating in general. If they continue to attend all other team events, it’s likely worth keeping an eye on their athlete eating disorder treatment progress.

Feeling the Need to Isolate

While isolation can immediately impact a student’s athletic performance, both on their own and in their team, it can also lead back to the unhealthy coping mechanisms and disorders of their eating disorder and cause their athlete mental health to worsen if not addressed. Even if they’re not leaning back into poor eating habits, this social isolation can also lead to higher stress levels and a variety of health concerns that can affect their athletic performance, as well as every other aspect of their life.

Whether you’re a coach, trainer, or a student athlete that knows someone who may need help or you’re looking for personal support, the Athlete EDGE team at EDCare is ready to help you. Our team is made of compassionate and knowledgeable specialists who understand the student athlete mental health, the warning signs of eating disorder relapse, and how to help teach athletic staff on how to recognize them in others, as well as build recovery programs to get athletes back on track. Contact us today at (866) 421-5736 to schedule a free, confidential assessment or fill out our inquiry form to get started.